It seems that ethnic theatre in The United States started with the slave trade and the acquisition of new territories such as New Orleans and Southwest Mexico. Along with this came European and Asian Immigrants as well. In the beginning, there were many problems that plagued ethnic theatre such as cultural conflicts and lack of funds. Even with these problems though, ethnic theatre would survive and even thrive in the early 1900s. Ethnic theatre provided not only entertainment, but an opportunity for immigrants to be proud of their culture and even learn more about it. In this way theatre was more exposure of their diverse cultures here in America. Ethnic theatre would expose social problems and educate Americans about cultural issues such as inequality among the races. The theatre also offered immigrants excitement and a social life. The theatre, in many ways, was somehwere they could escape their daily lives and be whoever they wanted. They could remove the burden of stereotypes and put on the costume of a hero or a villain, whatever they chose to identify with. I think this is the most important aspect of ethnic theatre, that it allowed for people to escape the harsh inequality rampant in their society by identifying with whatever or whoever they wanted.